It Doesn't Sting But It Burns
by KokatoherKola
Summary: Synopsis: M rated for later chapters, fun in the restaurant! On a trip with her family, Bella literally runs into Edward once or twice. Good grief, what if he responded in kind? M for language and hopefully future chapters. All natural pairings. xD


_**It Doesn't Sting, But It Burns**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, they all belong to Stephanie Meyer, I just persuade them to come out to play.

**WARNING: **This is not okay to read if you are under age. I do not take M ratings lightly, but this has a lot of language in it and a bit of graphic petting... I guess. So please. If you are underage, stay away. I don't want to be responsible for popping your M rated cherry and getting your parents pissed at me. Love! xox

A/N: Wow, this story is already long. Oh well. _**Oneshot**_ for now, but please let me know if you want me to continue it, because this one _is_ up for continuation.

Okay, don't kill me. I'm not going to be completely accurate in treatment for burns. Because I've obviously never been badly burned myself, and this works way better than just cooling down. Come on. You'd want Edward to take off your shirt too, right? Gimme a break.

BPOV

"I'm late, I'm late, sorry!" I ran into a new restaurant that I had never heard of before today and found my group of friends and family sitting at a rectangular table nearby. Alice Brandon and Rosalie Hale, my best friends, as well as my brothers' girlfriends (go figure, right? I have to share) began clapping as I fell into a seat beside my step brother, Jasper Whitlock. Emmett Swan, my other brother, was sitting across from Jasper, taking a sip of coke as he looked up.

"Belly button!" he boomed, grinning widely with pleasure. I hadn't seen either of my brothers, or their girlfriends, in a few months, because they had gone on a road trip across Canada and had just gotten back home last night. Emmett got up noisily from his seat to come around and wrap his big burly arms around me in a tight squeeze hug.

"Emmett – can't – breathe," I gasped loudly as Jasper guffawed and the girls giggled at us. As much as I had missed them, and was a bit disappointed when they didn't offer to take me along, a part of me was relieved at the escape and the loneliness of being a fifth wheel.

Emmett let me go and I reached up to kiss his slightly stubbly cheek and grimaced. "You gotta shave, buddy. My lips just got rug burn," I teased. Emmett laughed and knuckled my head.

"Love you too, sis." He sat back down and wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulders.

Jasper was next, and he waited until I was back in my chair before he gave me a sideways hug. "Heya, baby girl," he greeted me, smiling.

"Whatever, bud – I'm older than you," I smirked.

"By like, a day and a half," Jasper retorted back. I leaned forward threateningly.

He began moving his face around, trying to avoid getting kissed, but I grabbed his face and managed to plant a huge one on his cheek triumphantly as he mockingly scowled down at me.

As far as siblings went, the three of us were pretty tight – Emmett, a good two years older than us, and Jasper, the same age as me. Jasper and his mom came into our lives when we were 17, when my dad finally remarried after our mom had died when I was 7 and Emmett was 9. He had adopted Jasper as his son, and it was a good thing we all adored each other, because there was literally no escape.

Emmett and Jasper loved to play pranks on me, and I learned in kind to give as good as I got, as it was a matter of survival at the Swan-Whitlock household.

Now, at 23 and 25, we were all high on life and semi-independence. Our jobs sucked, our nightlife consisted of each other – or, well, in my case, when they were gone, gossip queens from work dragging me out to bars and trying to score free drinks from the bartenders – and we were all happily moved out and settled into our own places, all within 5 minutes of each other. Such is life.

I laughed and made a face at Alice. "You." I jabbed a finger at her. She looked surprised.

"Me? What did I do?" The cute little pixie was the group favorite, if we ever had secret favorites.

"Before you came along, missy, Jasper was able to handle my kisses. _Now_ I have to fight him for them." There was a silent pause at the table, and I ran the words over in my head, realizing how _wrong_ and weird it sounded.

"Oh my… I didn't mean it like that!" I burst out as the others started laughing hysterically. "I meant -" I spluttered, "he's my -" I was blushing now, and groaned as my head landed on the table with a _thunk_.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. "Forget it," I mumbled. Another tap. "_Jazzy –" _I knew he hated that name – "Leave me _alone_. I don't _yearn_ for your kisses anymore," I declared sarcastically. This only seemed to make everyone laugh harder.

"Um, excuse me, miss," the most gorgeous, velvet, amused voice I had ever heard in my _life_ murmured above my ear. I raised my head slowly, unwilling to face the humiliation head on. Of course, with that voice, his face was even better looking than I had assumed it would be. _Oh crap._

I could feel my cheeks heat up with my famous blush but couldn't stop myself from meeting the stranger's eyes. His beautiful, green eyes that, if I wasn't so embarrassed, would have taken my breath away. As it was, I just blushed more – his eyes twinkled down at me as his mouth quirked up at the corner into what I could only assume to be amusement.

"Mhm?" I mumbled. What could this amazing specimen possibly want after that terrible display?

"Are you ready to order?"

"Oh. Um. No?" I asked it like it was a question, confused, and suddenly wished that hadn't come out as rude as it sounded in my own ears.

"What she means is, yes, she's quite ready to order," Jasper corrected, grinning. I elbowed him in the side and he cracked up laughing. "She'll have the…" At the corner of my eye I saw him look over my shoulder at my open and unlooked at menu, "Grilled fish on a sandwich," he added, and I was still too busy staring stunned at the man asking for my order.

"Jasper!" I heard Alice scold, but she was cut off by something (hot man staring, remember?) before she could continue.

The man – Edward, now that I managed to tear my eyes away from his face and look at the rest of him (including the nametag) – nodded, scribbled it down and without expression or inflection in his beautiful voice asked, "Would you like anything to drink, miss?"

I swear my mouth opened, but nothing came out. I shut my mouth, and then tried again to speak. Still, nothing came out. _Work, damn it!_

"Give her a green tea." This time Jasper's wicked tone of voice broke me out of my daze and I swiftly snapped my head to the left, cheeks coloring.

"I'll actually take an iced tea if you have one?" I asked without looking at Edward, for fear he would dazzle me again. _Edward. Pretty name._

"I figured," he mumbled so quietly I probably wasn't supposed to hear him. "Anything else?" he asked, very politely.

"No thanks, we're fine," I quickly said before Jasper or Emmett could order something ridiculous and put it on my tab.

I felt the air rush past as Edward left our table and I let out my breath with a whoosh and ran my mind back the past 5 minutes. Wait a second, did Jasper order my food –

I let out a gasp and Emmett and Rosalie gave a chuckle. _No. No. NO. _I turned to Jasper so swiftly it took him by surprise.

"Okay, Jazz," I hissed, angry, "You listen and oh, you better listen good. When have you ever ordered me food?"

Jasper looked contemplative for a moment. "Never?" he suggested, grinning.

"And when have I ever asked you to?" I demanded, poking him in the chest.

"Never again?" he asked, starting to get nervous.

"Exactly!" I threw my hands up in the air. "You ordered me FISH. What the HELL were you thinking?"

"A joke," he mumbled, fidgeting.

I glanced down at his hot spaghetti dish with garlic bread on the side. Mmm… that looked good, in comparison to what I was going to be getting.

"Then," I began sweetly, "You won't mind if I eat yours, because, since you ordered fish, you can eat it."

And with great ease, Alice, from where she had been sitting silently across from us listening intently, nipped away Jasper's plates of food before he could make a desperate grab at them.

"Alice!" he whined, pouting and looking like a little boy. He was utterly dejected.

Alice, forever the mother hen of our group, even to her boyfriend some times, tsked. "Now, you know, _Jazzy_," she smirked, and Jasper growled, "That you should be nice to your _older_ sister." We beamed at each other.

"That's right, peeps: hos before bros," I commented, and gave Rosalie and Alice high fives when they agreed with me.

Without another word, Alice slid the dishes over to Rosalie before Jasper could snatch them across the table. Now they were officially out of his reach, each of us girls relaxed and grinned. Jasper glanced pleadingly at Emmett.

Emmett shrugged as his eyes twinkled. "What do you want me to do?"

Jasper scowled again. He was still scowling when my – or should I say, Jasper's – food came, delivered by my new favorite waiter. I felt his breath against the side of my neck and I had to close my eyes to keep from jumping him. His hand rested on the back of my chair and I felt his warmth as he moved closer. Was I dreaming? This was my _heaven._

_Thunk._

The dish being set on the table in front of me brought me to my senses.

Oops. _Bit over excited there, Bella?_

I bit back a sigh when he moved away and slowly opened my eyes to wide eyes and open mouths around the table. I slid my dish to Jasper and glanced around in confusion. "What?" I looked up to see Edward's green eyes flash at me and then he was gone.

I blinked for a moment, and then looked at my friends. "Is it just me, or was that shit weird?"

They laughed as Alice slid me my new meal, and (with the exception of Jasper) we all dug in.

"And Emmett, Emmett –" Rosalie sputtered, laughing way too hard to complete her sentence.

"It wasn't _that_ funny, Rose," he complained as I watched him push around the remainder of his food. I couldn't believe he was blushing!

"Emmett, it totally was," Alice disagreed.

While they were arguing, I wrapped an arm around Jasper and hugged him to me. "I've missed you, Jazzy," I whispered, tears threatening to roll down my cheeks. No matter how close the three of us were, Jasper and I had always remained the closest. While Emmett had been busy away at uni, Jasper had been my protector and my best friend. To this day, Emmett still didn't know about the exact amount of guys Jasper had to threaten and or punch for me.

Jasper rested his forehead against mine and leaned in close enough that I could see the green flecks in his blue eyes. I watched him take a breath. "Bella, I –"

A large crash to the side of us startled us apart and caught our attention as we whipped around to stare. What looked like a desert cart was tipped on its side, deserts and plates smeared and smashed along the aisle. Edward was bent over the mess, but he was staring at us, looking like he was about to have a coronary – albeit a rather cute one. It was insanely amusing to me how he could look so adorable and so freaked and so pissed at the same time.

Before I could stop myself I let out a snort, and then clapped my hand over my mouth, realizing that he would definitely think I was being rude. He shrugged one shoulder, with that damn twinkle in his eye, and gave me a cocky one sided grin, his anger issue fading. Jeeze, with his mood swings he was going to give one hell of a whiplash.

Our staring at each other was becoming intense until one of the other guys in the same uniform threw his apron at Edward, looking pissed off.

It was Edward's fault? He seemed so smooth and graceful – I was startled out of my thoughts by Jasper poking me in the ribs. "I think we should take her home," Emmett laughed. "She looks completely out of it."

Without another word and before I could protest that I just wanted to stay and watch Edward forever, Jasper threw down some bills, whistled loudly until Edward looked up at us, pointed to me, and gave him a thumbs up. I couldn't see Edward's reaction because – before I could slap him silly and spit in his eye – Jasper picked me up and threw me over his shoulder while Alice came around and hopped into his open arm and onto his other shoulder.

"Muscles!" Emmett catcalled rather loudly as he helped Rosalie up while I pounded on Jasper's back.

"Jasper Scarlett O'Hara Whitlock!" I spat out triumphantly, using both of his middle names.

Jasper stood stock still while I heard musical laughter coming from in front of me and upside down. Then I heard a smack like a towel hitting something and silence.

"I haven't been called that in years, Bells," Jasper whined.

"Put. Me. Down. Now." I swallowed the urge to curse at him, considering we were in a family friendly environment and were already causing enough of a disturbance to last at least six weeks. I chanced a wary look around – yep, everyone in a 10 mile radius was staring at us. They had even abandoned eating to watch the entertainment.

Jasper let me down slowly and wrapped his hand awkwardly around Alice still perched on his shoulder, and I breathed a sigh of relief – relief, until…

"HAH! You've got nothing on me, Belly!" Emmett boomed, and proceeded to carry me out of the restaurant, me pounding uselessly on his large back. I swear, I just tickled him. Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie followed after us, laughing like crazy.

_A great end to a great day, _I thought sarcastically – until I remembered the great part. Seeing Edward. I sighed dreamily before I was abruptly pulled out of my day dream by Emmett shifting me roughly on his shoulder. I wacked him in the head, but, like usual, it didn't affect him and he carried me until we reached my truck.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It was a few days later and I hadn't been back to visit Edward – I mean, um, to eat. At that place. Where he was. I sincerely hoped he hadn't been fired for whatever may have happened. After dreaming of desert and green eyes that dripped pure sex for two nights in a row, I was very, ahem, ready for another Edward fix.

I rung up Alice's cell phone and smiled when she picked up, sounding strangely sleepy for a late Sunday morning.

"Hey, Ali, wanna go to the _Elite_ with me for lunch?" I knew she wouldn't have eaten yet.

"Sorry, Bella, I can't make it today. I have an interview with Future Shop in forty five minutes," she sounded genuinely disappointed and I was just as disappointed that she wouldn't be able to come.

"Oh, okay."

"But, if you really want to go out, why not ask Rosalie?" Alice suggested.

"I was gonna call her next," I laughed, and after a quick goodbye, we hung up.

Rosalie was interested in going for lunch, if she could bring her associate Jessica Stanley along. I agreed, and we decided that they would pick me up on the way over.

I dressed up a little bit more than I had at our previous visit in a nice white top and a flowery skirt, and even put a little make up on. I was turning into _such_ a girl. I scowled at my reflection in the mirror and sighed in frustration. _Just relax. I'm not going there just to see Edward_… I kept trying to tell myself. Except I totally was. Damn it.

A knock at the door startled me into action and I grabbed my purse, locking the apartment behind me as I strode out.

A loud wolf whistle met me as I turned around, and I laughed at Rose even as I blushed. "Daaamn, girl, you clean up _good_," she stated, grinning at me and winking a little. "Is this little show for a certain bronze haired waiter?"

I averted my eyes even as I thought of her description of his hair. She was right; bronze was the perfect name for his hair. Not completely red, not completely brown –

"Bella? Hellooo, Bella? Come in!" She waved a hand in front of my face, now outright laughing when I snapped back out of my Edward daydream.

"Yes, sorry! I'm here, let's go!"

Without a word of argument, Rosalie led the way. I met Jessica, a really… unusual character, and we sped off to _The Elite. _

We managed to score the same table, even though there were only three of us, and I kept glancing around for any sight of Edward as I was only vaguely listening to the conversation going on before me. So of course, I wasn't paying any attention until something caught my ear…

"Who is that gorgeous piece of man?" Jessica purred, looking behind me. I spun in my seat almost franticly, looking in the direction that she had been. And, oh God, my heart sped right up. There he was, standing a few tables down, taking an order, but he was looking at us. Or, dare I say, me? I blushed and held his green eyes - that had just a touch of amusement once more – with my gaze for just a second before I blushed and spun back around to face the others.

Rose was snickering behind her napkin and Jessica was looking shrewdly at Edward from beneath her menu. I wanted to tear the plastic nose off her face and rip her fake boobs off. What was wrong with me? Jessica seemed okay, a bit shallow, I guess, but not that bad. I sighed and rested my head in my hands on the table in frustration.

I felt a hand at my back and two warm fingers hesitantly brush up and down for a brief moment, before they flew up to pull my hair back over my shoulder. The tingling sensation that had been travelling down my back and across my neck when he touched me ceased when he abruptly let go as if he'd been burned.

He cleared his throat as I closed my eyes, still buried by my arms, and I heard him quietly ask, oh so close to my ear, "Are you okay?"

I think I was blushing. Okay, I _know_ I was blushing. And tingling all over from the sensation of his touch. And then, oh God, I heard laughter. Coming from right in front of me. _Oh shit. _Please _don't, _I pleaded in my mind.

"Actually, I think she's getting a _little_ _hot_ in here…" I heard Jessica caw like a demented crow. Unsurprisingly, no one laughed with her. If anything, I was ashamed on her behalf for that ridiculously shitty attempt at wit.

I'm pretty sure my voice was muffled, but I answered anyway. "I'm fine… do you have the, um –"

"Spaghetti?" he questioned with that musical lilt. His voice sounded teasing at the same time, and it made me smile despite myself.

"Yes, please." Before I could ask him how he knew – or reprove him for eavesdropping – he kept talking.

"And an iced tea to go with that, yes?"

"Um, yes, Iced Tea would be great, thanks." At least I managed more than two words this time. I felt him leave and then move over to take Rosalie and Jessica's orders.

Finally I heard silence and then Rosalie whispered, "He's gone."

I raised my head and sure enough, he was gone. I let out a sigh and was almost relaxed when, "Bella? Bella Swan?"

Well, _there_ was a voice I wasn't expecting to hear for a very, very, very long time.

It was like my whole body heaved one huge sigh before I turned to face my ex slime-ball of a boyfriend, Michael Newton. "Mik-" He was wearing an outfit that matched Edward's. I refrained from bursting into laughter, but just barely. I literally heard Rosalie growling behind me. Mike and Rose had never really got along together. At all.

"Mike," I managed to get out calmly.

"Long time no see," he replied eagerly back.

"Trust me, it hasn't been long enough," I sniped. Rose and Jessica snorted and Mike's face turned the most unbecoming shade of red.

"Still up to your shitty attention tricks, Swan?" he sneered. I stood up, more pissed off than I had been in a while. My friends were convinced that only Mike could bring out my true hatred, because he was so _boring._

"Still acting like a douchebag, Newton? Oh wait, my bad, you never _had_ to act." Rose and Jessica were almost howling now, and I rolled my eyes, chancing a look back at them. Rose was slapping her hand on the table, a fierce gleeful look on her face. Jessica was just… ugh. I inwardly cringed; she was making more noise than two loud tables put together… ass.

"Still fucking with every guy in sight?" Mike asked back sweetly.

On top of being rude, a thief, and boring, he was also a smartass. Pretending to ignore that lame comeback, I turned to Rose and rather loudly complained, "God, Rose, I'm sweating like a pig."

Mike, of course, had to correct me, like I knew he would. "For your information, _Bell-aa,_ pigs don't have sweat glands."

I turned back to him without missing a beat and shot, "Well, you always were the exception."

There was suddenly huge applause coming from all around us, and it startled me so much I spun around to see where the noise was coming from – and almost collided with a tray of food.

It would have been fine if my foot hadn't caught on the chair, making me stumble forward just a little bit. It would have been great if Edward had managed to regain his balance without the tray in his hand. It would have been absolutely okay if the douchebag hadn't just stuck his foot out, sending the food on the tray flying all into my face and all over me.

Pain. Unimaginable pain everywhere, and then it suddenly went black.

Oh, no, wait, that was just garlic bread covering my eyes… Oh SHIT that burned.

I yelped while trying to peel the offending food off as I jumped backwards, hitting the corner of the table with my hip and letting out a pathetic whimper as pastas and sauces seared all the way through the thin material of my clothes, and all I could thing was water. I needed _water, so badly _–

"FOOD FIGHT," Rosalie boomed, and for a moment, beneath the dizziness, and shear hot, horrific, pain, I thought my brother had run into the restaurant. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think – until I felt a gentle but firm hand wrap around my waist and someone lifting me. Oh _God,_ it hurt. I seriously hoped to fuck that it wasn't the douchebag carrying me…

As I could feel food flying around us followed by gleeful shouts from patrons, I was hustled quickly into the kitchen and was greeted by welcoming heat and the puttering and easy going natures of the chefs. I heard some tops rattle, and my rescuer setting me on a cool table that felt good against my burns, but he released me – yes, it was a 'he' because of his muscles… I'm not totally oblivious – but I still refused to open my eyes.

I heard him move away from me and held back my hiss as my whole body started aching. He was trying to say something very quietly to someone, but I couldn't hear a thing, and I felt that if I stopped thinking for a minute the pain would completely consume me.

Fabric hit something as a sudden flurried motion that I barely heard passed by me, slapping the kitchen doors open. All was silent and for a desperate minute I was worried that I was alone and no one was here to distract me from the pain. And then, I winced as I felt cool flesh graze my arm.

"Open your eyes, Sweetheart," a musical voice whispered, pleading with me urgently. It sounded familiar, but I was in too much pain to dwell on it any further. My eyelids felt like they were burning from the inside out; most likely the garlic bread's fault.

I slowly cracked them open, hesitantly and raised them to meet the eyes of my rescuer. Green eyes. Bright, green eyes that I dreamed about since I had first seen them. Eyes that were overflowing with concern. Concern for me. (is it just me or are my sentences getting shorter?) Oh shit. To do something like fall in front of his face is embarrassing enough. But to actually have to be tended by him in all of his basic hotness while I was covered in noodles and red nasty stuff?

Worst. Fucking. Day. Ever.

I chanced a look down to see how bad my outfit was – and I remembered I was wearing a thin white top.

Changed my mind.

Worst. Fucking. Day. In. History. Ever.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

We were staring at each other still. Edward was waiting patiently for me to take my shirt off, but, I mean, this was… well. Edward.

"Bella, you have to take that off," he tried persuading, his green eyes glowing into mine.

"It hurts too much," I argued back, tears coming into my eyes. My shirt was starting to stick to my burns and I was worried the skin might just come off with it. Bizarre

After being frantically introduced, Edward had been trying just as fast to get my shirt off. If it were any other situation I would have been laughing at the bizzarness of it. As it was, I was close to bawling in front of him. Another situation I would also find amusing in any other setting.

He hesitated, just a fraction, before his eyes set and he reached over and gently touched the skin where my shirt ended.

My breath pretty much left me as I stared at his long hands. Was he a piano player or something? "Um. W-w-what are you doing?" I gasped out. _Come on, Bella. You're not a 14 year old with a school crush. _The fact that I _did _have a crush when I was 14 and was _way_ cooler then just now with Edward managed to skip my attention, of course.

"Okay, Bella," he leaned forward, making me dizzy with his nearness and warm, sweet breath. "Here's the thing." His voice was hurried, gentle, and very worried. "We need to get you out of this shirt, or else your skin very well may fucking take your skin off like sticking your tongue to a metal pole in the middle of winter below zero."

The thought made me whimper, and he made a little growling noise at the back of this throat, which was… holy shit. Hot was an understatement.

He backed away and squeezed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb – an act I found ridiculously hot. "Back on track," I thought I heard him mutter. He looked up at me and his eyes were so fierce I leaned back in surprise. "This needs to come off, Bella." He was still patient, still gentle with me as he lightly tugged on my shirt, but I swear I could hear some of the tension and frustration in his tone.

I sighed, and nodded, raising my arms slowly and at the same time giving him permission to take it off, since I couldn't. He raised an eyebrow at me once, and I rolled my eyes back at him as I felt blood rush to my cheeks. _Thank God I'm wearing a bra. _I felt him gently hook two fingers in my shirt and began to lift as lightly and yet as quickly as he could. He was halfway there, I could feel his breath and – was he panting? Hell, I know I was. Just the fact that he was so close to touching me was enough to set the rest of my body on fire.

His hands grazed the side of my breasts going up, and we both froze, barely breathing. I gazed into his eyes and it was so silent I heard him swallow deeply, and I'm pretty sure he couldn't, or wouldn't, go on. I took a deep breath, lowered my hands onto his cool ones, and, as swiftly as I could, pushed them away and crossed my own arms to yank the rest of my shirt off as it relinquished its hold on my form. I took a shuddering breath as the material grazed tender flesh. Also the relief at getting the hot sticky material off. (Mind out of the gutter guys, really.)

I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see the damage, or Edward's repulsed expression as he looked at me. Instead, I felt two fingers come up to my eyes and lightly brush my eyelids. "Bella, Bella, sweet. Look at me."

My eyes shot open, some of the pain subsiding from his touch. Did this angel just call me 'Sweet'? Oh, dear Lord. Bring on the hyperventilation.

"There you are." His voice was soothing and calm. He touched my cheek, making me wince, and he frowned into my eyes, turning brisk. "Right, I've got some cold cream and some cold cloths for your burns." He looked down at my lower torso. "Are you okay, um… there?" Was he blushing? Hell, _I_ was blushing.

"Yes!" I blurted out. "I'm fine. Just. Ouch."

Edward clucked his tongue a bit and grabbed the cream from the side of the table. He squeezed a medium size glob onto his finger and gently started massaging my cheek. The relief was almost immediate, despite the flare that sprang up when his fingers touched my skin.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, leaning closer.

"It just…" I inhaled very quickly. "stings, you know?"

He chuckled and I sent a glare in his direction. "Sorry," he said softly, contrite. His eyes followed his hand as it moved around my face, testing for sore spots. It was a rather intimate moment, despite the circumstances.

"Um, I think… my face is okay," I mumbled, as I watched him add more cream to his palms and rub them together.

Edward glanced up with a smooth smirk on his face as he continued to rub the soothing lotion on my face and around my neck. "Just checking," he murmured. He had to lean closer to smooth it across the back of my neck, and down… and it was then that I realized where his fingers were about to go. I glanced down at my chest, following the lightening trail that his fingers were leaving, and then glanced back up into his eyes that were now a smoldering emerald, never leaving mine.

"Um…" I whispered, and my voice sounded rough with need to my ears. He came closer, and I seriously though he was going to kiss me, and at the last second his eyes closed, but he ended up moving his forehead to rest gently against mine.

He took a shuddering breath that seemed to meet my own, and rocked our heads back and forth softly for a minute. The tingling sensation never dissipated as he sighed deeply, not moving his fingers once, nor did he look down. "You're not making this easy for me," he whispered huskily, and even then his voice was musical. I heard him swallow deeply, and that combined with his closeness and husky tone made butterflies fly around in my stomach.

"What?" I whispered back, trying not to break whatever spell he had cast around us. I never wanted him to move – unless he was going to move closer and then, by God, he could go right ahead.

"You're already… no. I can't." He let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head a little, still connected to mine.

"What's wrong?" I tentatively reached forward, hoping I wasn't screwing everything up, and gently placed a finger on his chin, stopping his head from moving. He let out a sigh, and in response, I let one out too.

"You're…"

"Edward. Look at me," I murmured fiercely, no longer able to be apart from his piercing green eyes.

He raised his head up obediently, albeit reluctantly. "Don't make me say it, Bella," he pleaded in earnest. And was totally hot doing it.

"Edward, how can I respond to something when I don't know what it is?" I asked gently, looking deeply into his eyes, searching them. Right now we weren't two strangers. In this moment he wasn't too good and attractive for me and I wasn't just plain and half undressed. We were equals, sharing our doubts.

He looked like he wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose again, but didn't release me, even though some conflict was in his eyes and showing on his face. It was adorable and I almost giggled.

"You're, um… taken," he mumbled. And I almost laughed right in his face. Wow. Way to wreck the mood, Bella. Luckily I reined it in.

"What are you talking about?" I blurted a little louder than I meant to, making him wince just a little bit, but he didn't move away.

"You. And that blonde guy." He sounded a bit bitter, and I had no idea what he was talking about. And then it hit me. The other time, in the restaurant, I was with Jasper. He had interrupted our sparring about _kissing_, and then he was ordering for me, and then the whole thing with the desert cart, he was so close and was about to tell me somethi –

"That food cart was on _purpose!_" I exclaimed triumphantly, now realizing the very reason for that.

Edward pressed a little harder against my forehead, his voice growing as hard and cold as I had ever heard it. It made me a little afraid, until what he was saying registered in my brain. Well, then it was just hot.

" My God, he was touching you, holding you, I swear, I couldn't watch him kiss you when I _couldn't_," he growled in agony. I would have felt sorry for him if it hadn't been so funny. And holy hell, he wanted me just as much as I wanted him, if not more. I felt dazed by this new revelation.

"Um… that was Jasper… "

"Jasper?" he interrupted harshly, with what I thought was a snarl, "I'm going to find him, hunt him down and –"

"He's my brother," I finished coolly.

"Uhhh, what?" Edward immediately winded down from his high strung rant and stared at me, his face starting to flush.

"Jasper. Is. My. Brother." I couldn't keep the smirk out of my voice. "He's actually my step brother, and if you 'find him and hunt him down', I will personally cut off your most valuable member and keep it in a jar."

Edward swallowed again – he was doing a lot of that – and I felt pleased and flattered at the huge sigh of relief he let out. "I'm sorry," he murmured, reaching up with his free hand to gently kiss my forehead.

"That's okay," I whispered, and felt intense pleasure when he dragged his lips down my flesh, both hands coming up to cradle my face and my neck tenderly as I sighed and pretty much melted into him.

He slid his hands so gently to cup my shoulders that I the pain and tension was slightly relieved. It still stung, but frankly, if he was going to kiss me, I couldn't care less.

"Bella, I've wanted you since I first saw you rush in here, cheeks flushed from running to get to your friends on time," he murmured huskily, making my famous blush come back as he spoke the words. He gave a beautiful chuckle and brushed his hands against my cheeks. "And this just makes me want you more…" he murmured, leaning forward to lightly brush my nose with his lips, smiling against my flesh when I shuddered – and not from the cold.

"You were so… so cold, sometimes. So indifferent. And other times… oh, I felt you, your breath…"

Edward let out a low groan and placed his forehead against mine once more, panting out his breath even though nothing had happened. It was ridiculously sexy.

He growled low in his throat as he moved closer, tortured eyes gazing into mine. He was not indifferent anymore. "Bella, so help me god, I am going to finally fucking kiss you. And you'd better tell me to stop right now if you don't want this, because I definitely won't be able to."

The thought of him saying those words in a different scenario made me dizzy with want, and I nodded my head, oh so minutely. "_Yes,_" I breathed. It was, after all, what I had been dreaming about for the past two days.

His hands flew to the top of my legs as he leaned forward. Our eyes had just closed when –

"Hey Edward! We need some backup!"

Edward didn't even hesitate. "_Get the fuck out right now or I will fucking hang you up by a fucking rope and fucking tar feather the shit out of you._"

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Of course, it happened to be the boss that he had so rudely spoken to.

So Edward was put to work on double duty, leaving no more time for whatever we had going. At around the same time he was squeezing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, Rosalie and Jessica had made their way into the kitchen – covered in food, no less – and had thrown a minor fit at my lack of clothing and the fact that there was the hot waiter guy standing in front of me, looking like he was about to explode.

Of course, not knowing what the hell had happened in the kitchen, they rushed me out of the room fast as possible – snatching my jacket to cover me – and raced me to the car, declaring they needed to get me to the hospital. Poor Edward never stood a chance.

After that, I tried to get back to the Elite as often as possible but Edward was never there, so I assumed, sadly, that he had been sacked, and stopped going all together. I was a wreck for about two weeks. I spoke to no one, I woke up every night calling out Edward's name combined with tears in my sleep, and I was altogether a miserable hermit. I blocked Emmett and Jasper's phone numbers so I could dwell in my misery, and the girls sometimes came over and had a sad depressing movie flick night. One of these nights, I had ordered pizza, and the girls were just putting on a movie, when the doorbell rang.

I ran to go answer the door, never mind I was wearing my comfy sweats still. I opened it, holding out my hand for the pizza while digging in my purse for the money, but froze when I finally looked up.

There was Edward, holding two boxes of pizza, dressed in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt with a rather nice looking jacket.

"W-w-what…"

"Pizza delivery?" He winked.

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No, I'm not stupid, I'm going to make this a non oneshot. xD Hence the 'In Progress' Button. xD


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